They call their IT department "Business Technology", and they meant it. - Consultant Discover Employee Review

5.0
Oct 8, 2012
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Some very great people to work with, inside of a good culture. At its core, Discover cares about the employees and even the communities in which they work. I volunteered 4 years in a row for building playgrounds in areas around Chicagoland. It fostered teamwork that you simply can't achieve in the office. At some point long ago, they renamed their IT department "Business Technology" claiming that their technology is so important to their business. I'm not sure that it goes much beyond claim anymore - it used to though. They can be very flexible about "working from home" and used to provide very good time off banks (I received up to 6 weeks / year, for example).

Cons

Moved to implement ITIL methodologies about 5 years ago, but did so via force rather than training personnel and explaining how/why it's useful to the company as a whole. Over time it's worked out, but it's ultimately what drove me to leave. Also, it can be difficult to continue to move up the ladder within IT (non-application development) as there's very little growth in that area. In BT, there are some strong personalities who don't like to be told "no", even when using constructive criticism.

Explore other reviews about Discover

5.0
Jun 18, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

There are still great employees working at Discover despite looming layoffs due to Capital One acquisition.

Cons

Morale is at an all-time low, integration with Capital One has caused significant anxiety and confusion.

5.0
Mar 28, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

One of the most significant advantages of interning at Discover is the opportunity to work with massive, high-stakes financial datasets within a highly collaborative and mentorship-driven culture. Because the company manages millions of consumer accounts, you gain direct experience in how data-driven decisions impact risk management, credit modeling, and fraud detection in real time. The environment is known for being supportive of early-career professionals, offering structured learning paths and exposure to modern cloud-native infrastructures like AWS. Furthermore, the company’s strong focus on work-life balance and a clear pipeline for converting interns to full-time roles makes it an excellent "foot in the door" for anyone looking to build a career in fintech.

Cons

On the other hand, the primary drawback often stems from the inherent bureaucracy and heavy regulation of the banking industry, which can lead to slower project lifecycles and "red tape." You may find that a significant portion of your time is spent on repetitive data cleaning and maintaining legacy reporting systems rather than building the cutting-edge predictive models you might expect. Additionally, because Discover is a massive organization, your scope of work can sometimes feel siloed, making it difficult to see the end-to-end impact of your analysis across different departments. Finally, the current landscape of the industry means that internal shifts or large-scale corporate restructuring can occasionally lead to uncertainty regarding team directions or long-term project stability.

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